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Massachusetts Supreme Court rules for Tesla in franchise fight

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I liked the summary from thestreet article which was as followed:
The court ruled the state law only prevented competition between independent dealers and company-owned stores of the same manufacturer, and since Tesla had no independent dealers, it could continue operating its stores.
http://www.thestreet.com/story/12879954/1/why-tesla-tsla-stock-is-higher-in-after-hours-trading-today.html

Looks like it's a good thing Tesla didn't go halfway in the beginning and allow vehicle sales through dealers.
 
What's great about the Massachusetts ruling is the court said the auto dealers didn't have standing to sue. One of our attorney owners please chime in here, but I think in layman's terms it means they were not an injured party so it's none of their business how Tesla does business. Finally someone told the auto dealers cartel they don't have the exclusive right to sell a product from a new company just because it happens to be a car.
 
This is priceless:
http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2014/09/15/tesla-natick-showroom-survives-court-challenge/dDt6HyxfEsOSreUvtviT1O/story.html said:
The statute protects independent dealers that buy their inventory from manufacturers and mark up prices to make a profit; they could be harmed by competition from manufacturer-owned dealerships selling the same makes, which presumably could offer lower prices by cutting out the middleman.
What sane impartial voter would be "for" the underlined?

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The reporter called and asked for my opinion on the ruling and after 40 minutes the last paragraph is what he pulled out. :)
Nice quote, Ed.
"The last thing I’d want to do is drive a gas car," he said. "It feels like stepping back a century."
 
Interestingly when I was talking to my parents about the issues they said that they'd prefer going to a dealer, but hate the idea that others shouldn't have a choice. I agree that the market should decide.

There's plenty of room for both, although the dealers would have to do a lot to get my willing business (as opposed to forced business).
 
There's plenty of room for both, although the dealers would have to do a lot to get my willing business (as opposed to forced business).

Yes. Places like Germany have both models co-exist. Apple shows that you can sell iPhones in Best Buys and the Apple store etc. There is really no reason to believe that a business model that works like a charm for literally hundreds of industries shouldn't work for cars.

Anyways, good to have this ruling. But I still can't believe that it's easier to buy an American made Tesla Model S in "communist" China than in "free market" Texas...
 
Yes. Places like Germany have both models co-exist. Apple shows that you can sell iPhones in Best Buys and the Apple store etc. There is really no reason to believe that a business model that works like a charm for literally hundreds of industries shouldn't work for cars.

Anyways, good to have this ruling. But I still can't believe that it's easier to buy an American made Tesla Model S in "communist" China than in "free market" Texas...

In Texas all you do is:

1. Go online and configure your car.
2. Press buy
3. Send money.
4. When the car is ready, pick up your Tesla at the Service Centre (or have Telsa deliver it if you're far away from an SC).
5. Take the paperwork to the county tax office, pay sales tax and pick up your plates.

In states where the NADA hasn't bought the legislators, the difference is only step 5.
 
In Texas all you do is:

1. Go online and configure your car.
2. Press buy
3. Send money.
4. When the car is ready, pick up your Tesla at the Service Centre (or have Telsa deliver it if you're far away from an SC).
5. Take the paperwork to the county tax office, pay sales tax and pick up your plates.

In states where the NADA hasn't bought the legislators, the difference is only step 5.

All true, except you can't get a test drive unless you a) fly to another state or b) know someone who owns one.
 
Yes. Places like Germany have both models co-exist. Apple shows that you can sell iPhones in Best Buys and the Apple store etc. There is really no reason to believe that a business model that works like a charm for literally hundreds of industries shouldn't work for cars.

Anyways, good to have this ruling. But I still can't believe that it's easier to buy an American made Tesla Model S in "communist" China than in "free market" Texas...
The buying is easy as jerry33 notes above. The issue is selling, not buying. Tesla can sell its American-made cars in communist China but not in Texas. I happened to be meeting with a Tesla PR person the day they started selling in China and suggested that would make a good tweet, but she didn't take me up on it.

Not selling means store personnel in Texas can not talk about the price or actually make the sale. When Texans buy Teslas the online sale technically takes place in California. But it's not just people in Europe who are confused about this. Lots of people in Texas ask me if I had to go out of state to buy it.